Covid-2019: how we can stop the tsunami
March 26, 2020 - Opinion (Updated at 3:25 pm, 26/03/2020)
Let's build public health breakwalls, one person at a time, respectfully, the Canadian way.
Journalist
The calm before the storm? A breakwall at sunset..
Photo : Wiki Common
Canada is desperately racing against the clock to stop the looming public health tsunami of Covid-2019.
We are still lagging behind Europe (approximately 10 days) or the U.S. on the epidemic curve, with close to 3,600 confirmed cases in Canada compared to 80,000 in Italy, 76,000 in the U.S. and 56,000 in Spain. (China has almost 82,000 cases yet the epidemic seems under control there.)
But we know the public health tidal wave is approaching our shores. And we are running out of time in Canada.
So we must urgently build breakwalls to protect ourselves. And avoid making the same mistakes as Italy, the U.S. or Spain did, even Germany or France, now faced with a sharp increase in the number of cases.
How can we stop this oncoming tsunami? By building human breakwalls, brick by brick, stone by stone, one person at a time. By simply respecting the physical distancing recommendations and voluntary isolation, especially for those of us who have recently travelled abroad.
CUTTING THE SIZE OF THE WAVE
Better yet, we still can cut the amplitude of the on-coming groundswell and actually reduce the size of the wave once it breaks.
Schools, restaurants, non-essential businesses closures and now (sadly) even public playgrounds in Toronto, are excellent public health measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Individually, we must do our share. We must practice physical distancing in addition to washing our hands and voluntary isolating at home.
This being said: every single one of use must do it, or else it creates a hole in the public health breakwall and the raging waters will flood through and destroy the rest of the protective structure.
The ultimate goal is to prevent that the number of infected Canadians requiring treatment does not exceed the capacity of our health-care system to handle patients that could flood into our emergency rooms (ER).
Especially while considering how some of our hospitals, in Ontario for example, are already practicing hallway medicine… While we wait to have screening tests available on a large scale.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US
So as the virus epidemic tsunami approaches, let's not hang out on the beach basking in the sun, waiting and doing nothing or worse, partying carelessly ankle deep in the water, as witnessed on the seaside in Florida, very recently.
No need to panic though and stampede away as the tsunami approaches. Instead, let us all build human breakwalls, one stone at a time, one person at a time. As we still can reduce the size of this oncoming public health tidal wave.
Simply by staying away physically from each other for a little while.
And let's wash our hands, literally, but not figuratively! As we all have our bit to do individually.
Public playgrounds are closed in Toronto as of March 26, 2020 to reduce the spread the novel coronavirus Covid-2019